Surprisingly Human
by EmmyR
Summary: The world sees them as superheroes. However, they all have their own quirks that might make them seem a bit more real, if only people realized what was beyond the façade. Join in a series of one-shots as the Avengers are shown to be, in fact, human.
1. Tony

**I've been working on a series of one shots regarding the Avengers. Now, just to let everyone know: I have only seen all of the movies, but I have never read the comics. So, if I make a mistake, then it's because I don't know all of their backstories in regards to the comic books. **

**These aren't really in any kind of order. I just want to show that each member of the team can surprise the rest of them, or maybe one or two at a time, and that they are all human in the end. (Yes, Thor is a god, just go with it!)**

* * *

"So, why are we doing this again?" Bruce asked, fidgeting with his tie. He really didn't feel comfortable in this suit. Of course, it cost far more than he'd ever seen before; never mind the fact that he was not likely to ever wear it again. However, Tony had insisted on outfitting all of them for the occasion.

"We are doing this, big and green," Tony said, pulling on his own suit jacket, and letting Pepper put his handkerchief in the pocket, "because our fearless leader Fury has vetoed my idea of funding the Avengers myself. I guess he doesn't like the idea of me having any kind of power over him. So now we get to have this benefit in the hopes that some other hapless geniuses in this city have money to burn, and want to float it our way. I assume you all still like having clothes, weapons, and jets?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve grumbled.

He had to admit, though, Tony had outfitted them perfectly. Steve himself was in a very familiar 1940s army suit. He didn't even know where Tony had gotten it. Bruce was in a suit made from some stretchy fabric that Tony had invented over the past year. It had taken a lot of experimenting, but it mean that the Other Guy didn't tear all of his clothes every time he'd transformed. Clint was in a, dare he say it, dressy version of his Avengers suit. It was clear that he was a SHIELD agent, but he still had on his favorite boots, though cleaned and polished to the point that they could have been mirrors, not covered in dirt and grime like usual. Barton had complained about it, but Tony wouldn't listen, stating that after one mission they would look the same as soon as they got some alien blood on them. Clint agreed and shut up about it.

Natasha was in a sapphire blue dress that was skin tight, one strap, and sparkly. They had all been shocked speechless by the lack of weapons on her, since she was never without three at any one time. Tony then surprised her by giving her a jewelry box, which had two hair clips, both sharpened until they were better than her knives. She had given him a rare smile as she took the knife out of her stilettos and put the clips in her hair, stating only that they were better tactically if there was a fight.

Thor was the only one that had escaped without being outfitted, as he was in his full Asgardian ceremonial robes. Tony had agreed with grace, stating that Thor, as a god, had the right to decide his own clothes, rather than have a simple mortal picking them out for him.

Tony, unsurprisingly, was in his most expensive Armani suit. Steve assumed that he had quite a few of them, though he'd seen Tony wear this one at least once before. The only thing that was slightly different than that time, was that Tony had on his homing bracelets. Steve had noticed that Tony wore them almost constantly when he was leaving the Tower for an extended period of time. He wondered idly if the suit itself was going to be in the trunk of the limo.

Pepper, of course, looked like her usual polished self. It was normal for her to go to these charity events, and she looked the part of the superhero's girlfriend mixed with CEO of a fortune five company. She quickly got on her phone, telling Happy that they were ready to be picked up at the front of the Tower.

The trip to the ballroom was done mostly in silence. Most of them were fidgeting, not used to this kind of thing. Tony and Pepper looked completely at ease, and Natasha was doing quite a good job of acting like everything was fine, but Steve noticed her clutching her purse a few times, where he would bet that she had one of her tiny guns.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Natasha had been keeping an eye on Tony for most of the night. There was something that was prickling in the back of her mind, which was a feeling that she hated. It wasn't the feeling that there was danger, or else she would have intervened already. No, this was something completely different.

Tony was keeping his drink filled and in his hand at all times. That was something that she was always aware of, especially after his birthday party when she was undercover with him. However, he wasn't even close to drunk. Sure, he had a high tolerance, but they'd been at the event for over two hours by now. He should be fairly far gone at this point.

He excused himself from the group he was talking to, and wandered outside, which he'd done a few times. She'd assumed that he'd been going out for fresh air (unlikely) or was having a private rendezvous with Pepper (likely for him, unlikely for her).

She stayed in the shadows, knowing that this was breaking his privacy quite a bit, and followed him. She was surprised to see that there was no one else out here, as it was a nice night, and then her eyes widened further.

Tony took a tiny sip of his drink and hummed thoughtfully at the taste, then emptied the almost full drink into the bushes, turned, and went back to the bar to get another one. Her mask slipped and showed her confusion. What on earth?

"He doesn't drink in public anymore," Pepper said next to her.

Natasha spun around, hand automatically going to her new hair-weapons, then glared at the CEO. "Impressive," she stated. No one had managed to sneak up on her in years. Clearly she was slipping a bit.

Pepper shrugged, her eyes were on Tony. "You looked confused, so I thought I would clear it up for you. He scared himself at his birthday party. Yeah, he thought he was dying at the time, but he could have seriously hurt someone there, and he realized that once things calmed down after Vanko was dead, and you'd gone back to SHIELD. He doesn't want to make it obvious that he's changed anymore than people already realize, so he just fakes it. If he ever gets drunk anymore, he does it when he's alone in his lab, and I don't find out until the next morning."

Natasha nodded, her mind whirling with the new information. It made sense, and it fit all of the evidence. Now that she was thinking about it, it should have been obvious. She'd been living with the other Avenger's in the Tower for a few months now, and had yet to see Tony get plastered again. "Why doesn't he want people to know?" she asked, still eyeing the man.

Pepper gave a small smile. "I don't really know. I have a few good guesses, but that's something I've never asked him about. Believe it or not, he really has changed," she said with a truer smile, and walked across the hall to him, joining his conversation with a young couple that looked barely out of college. Sure enough, he had another full drink in his hands.

Natasha gave a smile of her own. She wasn't proven wrong about someone very often, but this looked as though it would qualify, and she was actually happy about that fact.

* * *

**So, that's the first. For some reason, Tony comes easier to me than the others, so I figured I would start with him. This scenario seemed likely, so it seemed like a good beginning to these one shots.  
**


	2. Clint

**Probably should have made this clear in the first, but it hadn't even crossed my mind:**

**Disclaimer: The Avengers do not belong to me. They belong to Marvel, though I do so love to play with them.**

**I'm not the best at one-shots. The other story that I'm working on right now is a monster of an epic, so I'm enjoying the challenge that this is giving me. Criticism is welcome, as long as it is constructive. I'm not going to beg for reviews though.**

**For this one, I had to do a bit of research, since this was never talked about during the movies. If I got anything wrong, I blame the sites that I found :-)**

* * *

The team was scattered around the Tower, which wasn't all that surprising. Steve was at the gym on the top floor, Bruce was in his new lab that Tony had built for him as soon as they'd moved in, the billionaire himself was in his shop working on the latest suit.

Natasha was showing Thor how to work the TV in the living room, while Clint was sitting on the couch with a SHIELD issued laptop open in front of him while he worked feverishly on it.

Clint was oblivious to everything else. Over the past few years, he'd been searching for his brother, Barney, and had been working on a timeline of sorts. After everything he'd been through in the past few years, he really did want to meet up with Barney, at the very least so that they could talk. Unfortunately, it looked as though his brother had continued in his life as a criminal.

He jumped slightly as he felt the couch dip next to him, and he saw Natasha sit down. "How's it coming?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. There had been no sightings of Barney since the last time he'd looked, nearly six months before, and he wasn't sure if it was worth it to continue searching. Not that he would ever say that aloud, though.

"On what are you working, Barton?" Thor asked, successfully turning the TV off without throwing the remote at it again.

Clint considered quickly. Of anyone on the team, Thor would be the one that would understand the best, so he decided to reveal a bit. "I'm trying to find my brother," he said, a bit hesitantly, though he hid it well.

Thor looked confused. "How does that machinery help you in locating him?" he asked, pointing to the laptop.

Natasha tried shaking her head slightly, but for once, Clint ignored her. She never had approved of his search, but she did support him through it. She would always say that she didn't like it, but she knew that it was important to him.

"We haven't spoken for a long time," Clint said seriously. "From what I've gathered, he's not on the right side of the law all the time."

Thor continued looking confused, so Natasha stepped in. "He's a criminal, so it can be hard for Clint to track him, depending on what he's doing at the time."

Thor's face cleared of confusion and, to Clint's surprise, he looked mad. "You want to find this brother of yours, though he is a criminal? Do you believe that you can convince him to give up his life of wrongdoing?"

Natasha was about to say something to him, but Clint stood, not caring that the laptop clattered to the floor. He was clenching his fists, and breathing hard as he glared at the demigod. "You are such a hypocrite, Odinson! Did you forget about Loki so quickly? Nevermind that he killed hundreds of people and tried to take control of the planet through force! He killed Coulson, and clearly never felt much remorse about it. Coulson was family to me, more than anyone else, and you didn't even care that it was your brother that killed him."

Silence followed his outburst, and Clint gave one final glare and growl before he turned and headed for the gym. He wanted to get rid of some of the fury that was flowing through him. Deciding that he didn't want to take the elevator, he ran up the stairs to the top floor, and burst into the gym.

* * *

Steve paused in his destruction of the punching bag. Because of Tony's experimenting one late night with punching bags, he didn't ruin as many as before, though he still went through a few. He saw Barton run in, his eyes ablaze, and considered saying something.

"Don't ask," Clint snapped, and went straight to the pull up bar and started his own workout.

His mind flashed through the same images that had been plaguing him for weeks now. He saw his nightmares of killing the agents that he'd fought beside, including Natasha, and knew that some of those agents he'd _actually_ helped in killing while he'd been under Loki's spell.

Though he hadn't admitted it to anyone (as they would say it was unhealthy, which it very likely was) he had watched the security tape of Phil's death. He watched it over and over again until it was imprinted in his brain, and he saw it almost every night in his dreams.

He hadn't been exaggerating when he said that Phil had been family to him. He really had been, especially after all they had gone through together. So for Thor to lecture him on family was laughable.

"You alright?" Steve couldn't help but ask, especially after the archer had been on the bar for over a hundred reps by now.

Clint dropped from the bar and grabbed a towel from the rack, wiping his face off and headed towards the treadmill. He set it at a high incline, and began slow, but started picking up after a while. "Fine," he grunted.

Steve didn't push, but continued his own workout. He hoped that the other man would open up, and he knew that sometimes it took a while.

After another hour, Clint dropped the incline and slowly reduced his speed. He got off and went to the mat to start his stretches, and was unsurprised when the captain joined him. "Cap, what makes a family?" he asked suddenly.

Steve thought about that as he drank his water. "It means accepting someone for who they are, and still caring about them." He knew as well as all of them that family didn't always mean blood. Bucky was always considered family to him, though they'd had their fair share of arguments.

Clint considered his words as he finished stretching. Then he nodded. "Thanks," he said simply before leaving. He would ignore what the god said. Barney was his family, and he'd be damned if he gave up his search now after all these years.

Steve watched as Clint left the gym. He had never really spoken much with the archer, who seemed to prefer keeping to himself as much as possible. Of course, the idea that anyone would come to _him _of all people for advice was rather amusing. However, he was the team leader. It made him relieved that someone else appeared willing to accept him in that role. He left the gym that day with, for the first time in a while, a genuine smile on his face.

* * *

**Didn't mean to leave it on such similar phrasing as the first, but oh well. Hope I did alright with Thor, because I'm never really sure how to portray him.  
**


	3. Natasha

**Quick update! This one is a bit shorter, but I like it a lot. Honestly, I have no idea where these things come from half the time... :-)**

* * *

Thor glanced at the clock on the table by his bed. He still wasn't used to such magic – no, technology, he reminded himself. Everything about this world was so very strange to him, he just couldn't get used to it.

He saw that it was still early, not even 3am, but he just couldn't get back to sleep after that nightmare, and decided to see what there was to drink in the cold box that was in the kitchen. He pulled on a pair of pajama pants as well as a large shirt, having learned when he moved in that the other occupants did not like him wandering around sans clothes. He quietly left his room and started walking through the halls.

When he passed by the living room, he was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one awake. Natasha was awake, and was fiddling with something in her lap, though he couldn't see it very well. He continued on into the kitchen, poured two cups full of orange juice, and brought one back into the living room, handing it to the female spy.

"Thank you," she said, laying down a wooden stick as she accepted the drink. She took a few gulps before she set it down and picked the stick back up, fiddling with it, another stick in her other hand, and a ball of thick looking string. At further inspection, there appeared to be another two sticks still in the fabric.

"Might I ask what it is you are doing?" Thor asked, sitting down on the couch.

She continued looking up at him, not paying attention to her hands at all. "What are you still doing awake? Even our resident insomniacs are asleep." By that, she meant Tony and Bruce. Those two quite often seemed to make a game out of which one of them can stay up the longest while working. The winner was the one that didn't blow up his respective lab. However, they all struggled with healthy sleeping habits. Insomnia and nightmares were common for all of them. Steve would spend his waking nights in the gym, pounding away at punching bags, while she and Clint preferred sparring with each other when they could. She didn't know about Thor, though.

"I awoke and could not reclaim sleep," Thor responded, staring at her hands. It appeared that they were moving of their own accord, but he still couldn't figure out what she was doing.

"Anything you would like to talk about?" she asked. She seemed to be the one that they all came to when they needed to talk, and she usually didn't mind. Tonight, though, she didn't want to delve into anyone else's head, even when she was trying to escape her own. She nodded when Thor shook his head. He couldn't take his eyes off of her hands, though. Natasha sighed. "It's called knitting," she told him, looking down as she twisted something. She stuck one of the sticks in her mouth while she worked, then took it out and continued.

"And what does this knitting create?" he asked, fascinated.

Natasha set it down for a moment to take another drink. "You can make a lot of things. This is going to be a hat." She pulled a finished on from the basket at her feet, and put it on her head to show him what she meant. Then she took it back off, as it was much smaller than her own head, put it back into the basket, and smoothed her hair back down.

Thor nodded in understanding. "Why do you not buy them in your stores? Jane mentioned how inexpensive some things here can be."

Natasha shrugged slightly. "It's calming," was all she would say as she continued working. Then she looked up to give him a small smile. "Though Clint would point out that I just like it because I know at least ten ways to kill someone with it," she said, chuckling under her breath at some memory.

Thor grinned at that, and sat in silence. He couldn't contain his curiousity for long, though. "What do you do with these when you finish them?" he asked, seeing quite a few in the basket.

Natasha didn't answer him, but continued with her work. "You might want to get some rest," she replied. "I think Steve is wanting us to get up early and spar together tomorrow."

He could tell that the conversation was finished, and stood. "Would you like more to drink before I leave?" he offered.

She shook her head at him. "I'll be heading along shortly."

Thor nodded as he made his way back to his room. In truth, he knew very little about a few members of the team. He spoke with Steve quite often, as they were both out of touch with this strange place. Bruce was willing to speak with him on occasion, as would Anthony, especially when they themselves would get curious about Asgard. They were the ones that he would go to when he had questions. Clint was not around very often to speak with, and Natasha was like a closed book. She was at the Tower whenever she wasn't on a mission, but she never spoke of herself or her past.

In truth, he never would have assumed that she would do something so relaxing. That was a ridiculous thought, he had to admit. After all, every warrior needed something to keep their minds off of what they've done. Many of the warriors he knew would study languages or magic. Others would carve, or work as blacksmiths. Anything to keep one's mind off of battles long since fought, and the Black Widow was no exception to that rule.

* * *

**I think this is my favorite so far, because I really can see Natashalie knitting, though a lot of people will likely think I'm crazy. Hehe.**


	4. Bruce

**This one's longer, and actually has action in it! *gasp* Still a one-shot, though.**

* * *

"So, thoughts?" Tony asked as the they left the sushi restaurant.

"Japan's is much better," Clint said, leading them down the alley where Stark had parked the car.

"Do I even want to know when you were in Japan?" Tony asked, pulling out his keys. This was 'team night,' and idea of Steve's. At least one night a week, they would go for dinner, or a movie, or an event. It was a way of getting to know each other outside of training and battles. Tony argued that they saw plenty of each other, since, you know, they lived together, but Rogers was adamant about it.

Truth be told, he didn't mind all that much. He was so used to being alone, with just Pepper, Happy, and occasionally Rhodey as well. This was quite different, but he did enjoy it. Mostly. For tonight, it was just him, Clint, and Bruce. Natasha and Cap were on some mission that the rest hadn't been invited to, and Thor was in New Mexico visiting Jane for the month.

"Stark, how many times have you hacked my file? You should know where I've been over the years," Clint said.

Bruce chuckled at the banter. "He's got you there, Tony," he pointed out. He was feeling quite relaxed. More so than he had in years, if he was being honest with himself. He had never really let his guard down around other people, but the Avengers managed to get through the walls he'd built, and quite easily, too.

That was the last thought he had when Tony stopped dead in his tracks, the car only a few yards away from them. "Guys," Tony started, sounding a bit nervous.

That made the other two scared, because Tony _never_ sounded nervous. Bruce looked over, and saw a red dot right in the middle of the arc reactor.

"Son of a bitch," Clint said, going for a knife in his sleeve, when Bruce felt the cold metal of a gun barrel at the nape of his neck. "You really picked the wrong people to mug, you know that, right?"

Bruce felt Hulk start to rear, and had to fight hard to keep his breathing calm and his heart rate steady. "I'd listen to him, if I were you," he advised as he saw the gunman targeting Tony move out of the shadows, his arm not moving an inch.

"Oh, but this isn't a robbery. This is revenge," he snarled. He looked at his buddy. "Search the Hawk; disarm him."

The second gunman nodded as he holstered his weapon, and moved towards Clint, who was seething.

"Touch me, and you will lose that arm," he growled.

"Don't let him, and your friend here will have much more metal in his heart than he currently has," the first mocked. "Now, let yourself be disarmed like a good little hostage."

Clint was shaking with rage, but nodded to the man, who started patting him down.

"Wow, Barton, that's an impressive stash," Tony quipped. One might thing that he was back at his Tower with the way his voice stayed steady, rather than being threatened in a back alley with two of his teammates.

Bruce had to agree, though. By the time the man was done, he'd pulled four knives and three guns from Clint. He wasn't sure that Natasha even had that many on a regular basis. Of course, he figured Clint would arm up a bit more when they left the safety of the Tower or the Helicarrier. The fact that he didn't have his bow on him was saying something, though. Of course, who in their right minds would try and take on the Avengers, even if they were down by half.

His mind was working as fast as he could make it, and he could only come up with one kind of plan, and he hoped that it would be enough. It was a Hail Mary, though.

"Alright, now the monster," the first man ordered.

Tony growled in his throat. "Call him that again, and I swear I won't rest until you are cold and stiff."

Bruce had to give his friend props, because he saw both of the men pause before continuing. He continued the mental conversation with his other half, and they were both ready for this. He would owe the other guy big time if they actually made it through all of this, though. When the second gunman was behind him, and had started patting him down for weapons, he looked at Clint, and mouthed. "Start talking!"

Clint gave him a fraction of a nod. "So, you say this is for revenge, huh? Mind telling us what kind of revenge? After all, there are many different kinds in our line of work. Is this revenge against the Avengers, or SHIELD? Stark Industries?"

"Hey, don't insult my company," Tony snapped from where he was. "I don't like to hire psychos anymore."

"HEY!" the first man yelled, his gun arm swinging around to pistol whip Tony across the face, where he stumbled into the brick of the alley. It was all the distraction Bruce needed.

He let the mental chain loose, but only partway. His eyes turned green faster than a street light. He grew by nearly a quarter, and had added almost a hundred pounds of muscle. All within two seconds, which he had to admit was a personal best. He reared behind him, grabbed the guy by the arm, and tossed him towards the first.

Clint, who was never slow on the uptake, threw himself to the ground, where he grabbed two of his guns, loading and cocking in one smooth motion.

Hulk/Bruce, whose transformation had stopped halfway through and stayed that way, moved towards Tony. Tony was the one Avenger that the Hulk would do anything for, which was why this had actually worked. He gently lifted the slighter man, pulling him away from the gunmen.

Tony nodded, and moved backwards, keeping his eyes on the men. Their eyes were trained on the slightly green Avenger, and they looked about ready to soil themselves.

"Clint. Backup," he growled, voice much deeper than usual.

"On it," Clint said, holstering one gun and grabbing his phone, pressing the speed dial button for Fury.

Bruce knelt down next to the men, who tried to scamper away, but were impeded by the brick wall. "This would have been so much easier for you if you had just listened when we said you had the wrong people. Just remember that. If, however, SHIELD is willing to let you go, I would advise you to never come near my friends again. I tend to get a little annoyed." With that, he let the chain loose just a bit more, until he was halfway to Hulk. "As do I," Hulk growled in his much deeper voice. He convinced Hulk to let Bruce come back up, and he returned to normal. "You decide to ignore my little warning? I can't wait to see what I would do to you."

With that, he stood and started walking back to the other two, who were staring at him. Clint's look was incredulous, while Tony's was impressed. "Something you've been working on with the Jolly Green Giant?"

"Shut it, Tony," he warned, rage still flowing through his veins.

"SHIELD will be here in five," Clint said, hanging up the phone. "By the way; next 'team night'? We order in."

* * *

**I'll admit, not my best, but I wanted to get Bruce's done and out there for you.  
**


	5. Steve

**An update during vacation! Hey, at least I have time to write at the moment. Well, at least a little bit of time. I started an online summer class, so we'll see how that goes. **

* * *

The team arrived at the new SHIELD base for their debriefing. They had been on a mission for the past few days, and finally had a chance to report in. Unfortunately, it had been recon only, which was quite boring for most of them, and Tony wondered why half of them had been called in on this. After all, Clint and Natasha were the only ones that had any training in spy-craft, unlike the rest of them, who probably stuck out like sore thumbs.

They were walking through the halls to the conference room, when he spotted Agent Maria Hill walking towards them. He groaned inwardly. It wasn't that he didn't like her, because he did. After all, she was quite often the only other person on the ship that questioned Fury almost as much as he himself did. However, she was still an agent of SHIELD, and he found far too many of them to be rather sheep like. Half of them had barely two brain cells to share between them, and the others couldn't apply what they knew to any type of real world situation. When he'd gone back through the footage of what happened during the Hellicarrier fight the year prior, he remembered banging his head into the desk when he heard an agent tell Fury that he couldn't navigate because the system had been messed up. Sure, Tony liked technology and all, but can SHIELD agents really not tell directions by simply looking at their surroundings?!

Well, he digresses. The point being that Hill is one of the better of the agents, but he doesn't understand what she has to do with their debriefing. If he remembers correctly, as he usually does, then she was busy with another assignment. Coulson was the one that was handling their mission, not Hill.

"Are you alright?" she demanded, walking up to Rogers.

Tony was about to open his mouth to make a witty retort, but his jaw hit the floor when he caught Steve's gentle grin. "Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't even have to go to Medical."

"I thought we talked about this," Hill lectured, some of the stress leaving her face as she looked the Captain over. "No stupid risks."

Steve leaned in and whispered something in her ear, causing her to bite back a giggle.

Tony's eyes widened at the sight, and he turned to his fellow Avengers. Thor just looked as passive as ever, and Bruce was exhausted from his most recent Hulk-out. Natasha was rolling her eyes, but Clint looked about as stunned as Tony was feeling. Good, he wasn't the only one that was out of the loop on this particular development.

"Hey, uh, Cap," Clint started, and cleared his throat. They all had to choke back chuckles when the two jumped apart like teenagers caught making out. "Something you want to tell us?"

Hill raised a single brow. "Agent Barton, is there some reason you need to know?"

"Well, we are a team," Tony butted in. "And, seeing as we need to know about each other, there seems to be something that the good ol' cap here is neglecting to inform us about."

She gave Tony a glare that, dare he say it, reminded him of Pepper at her most annoyed, so he decided to let it go. For now.

* * *

After the meeting, during which everyone kept shooting strange looks at their leader, they all went back to the Tower to get some rest. They were off duty for a while, and had been ordered to get some R and R while they could. You never know when giant piranhas might start attacking Pensacola. That, believe it or not, had actually happened once!

Everyone went off to sleep, work out, or do something that he didn't want to know about (like Natasha). Tony himself grabbed a whisky and went up on the roof. He was surprised to find that Steve was already up there with a soda. Tony walked up next to him, and they studied the skyline as the sun started to set, making it look much more like a postcard. There was silence, but it was actually a comfortable silence.

Steve was the first to break it. "It started two months ago."

Tony nodded, keeping his eyes on the view. He recognized the tone that Steve was using. It was the tone of someone who was unsure as to what was going on, but was going to go with it, because the alternative was to analyze it to death, and then ruin it. Tony had much more experience with the latter. He made a small noise, prompting Steve to continue.

He did. "It was the mission where it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. You remember that one?"

Tony remembered that one with clarity. It was the only mission where each of them had been required to spend at least one night in Medical. They had been given bad intel, and it was more of an ambush than anything else. They had been lucky to get back at all. "Murphy's law," he muttered.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know about that one," he stated, but sighed as he started smiling again. "I was the first one released, and I had just left Medical to talk to Fury, when Maria cornered me. She lectured me for what seemed like hours, and I couldn't help it. I kissed her."

Tony nearly dropped his glass, though he did start spluttering as he had just tried to swallow. It took him a moment to get his breath back, but then he looked over at the red faced Captain, and grinned. "How exactly did that happen?"

The smile dropped off Steve's face as he pondered how to phrase it.

Tony considered, and then it hit him. It really had taken him a while to get it, but he did now. "She's a lot like Peggy," he commented, taking a small sip. He felt Steve whip around to retort, but he just continued. "Seriously. She isn't impressed by the whole 'Captain America' thing, she's a strong female, you can tell that she fought her way to where she is, and she really doesn't take crap from people. Now, I did know Peggy Carter for a while, so there are quite a few differences there, but still. She's you type, Cap."

Poor Steve looked like a fish, as he gaped, then tried to comment a few times, but nothing came out. He knew that a statement like that required a response, but he just couldn't think of one. In truth, he had seen quite a bit of Peggy in Maria, though, like Stark said, they were two very different women.

Tony didn't wait for a response, though. He clapped him on the shoulder. "I'd watch out for Fury, though. He's probably going to give you the third degree about this. I think he takes the whole 'no fraternization rule' a bit seriously. Though, if he hasn't gotten on Clint and Nat by now, then there's hope for you." With that, he decided to head back inside, giving the captain some time to think.

Tony amused himself during the elevator ride back to his own floor, with images of Fury giving Steve the 'break her heart and I'll break your neck' speech. He knew, though, that Steve was the epitome of a gentleman, and that Maria was actually quite lucky. After all, they didn't make them like that anymore.

* * *

**I could see something happening in the future between Steve/Maria. I also realized that I haven't had any Tony for a while, so I decided to have it be more of his POV than the others. Plus, he and Steve do have a tiny connection through the past, so I think it fit. Cheers!  
**


	6. Thor

**Sorry for the wait on this one, I had a lot of trouble with coming up with something for Thor, and my HP story was taking up all of my time and effort.**

* * *

Tony was pissed. No, that didn't quite cover it. He felt as though his hair was about to catch fire from the burning thoughts in his head as the team followed him to the new SHIELD base. It had been rebuilt after the Loki incident had destroyed the old one, and Fury had gotten tired of using the Helicarrier for everything.

So caught up in his anger that he didn't notice the apprehensive looks that the team was exchanging behind him. All he could think about was finding Fury and gouging out his other eye.

"Nick Fury!" he roared, finally getting to the office.

Fury looked up from the screen he was reading, and braced himself. "Stark, now is not the best time."

"Perhaps you should have thought of that earlier!" Tony snapped. "When you asked me to design weapons, you gave me your word that they were only going to be used on that mission in Siberia. Taking them on a half assed mission to Brazil was not part of the contract."

Fury stood, scowling. "If you read that contract carefully enough, you'll find that…"

Tony slapped a wad of papers onto the desk. He placed his hands next to it and leaned forward. "I did read it. Actually, I wrote most of it, and went through it many times to make sure that there were no loopholes that you could crawl through. So, please, show me where in here it states that you are allowed to use MY weapons on a mission that you knew I wouldn't sign off on!"

"Why is this even such a big deal, Stark?" Fury demanded. "That backdoor you put into your weapons made sure that they couldn't be used in that part of the world, which nearly killed those agents, I'll have you know."

"You know exactly why I put safeguards into ANY weapons that I make anymore. I don't care if it's you, Pepper, or freaking Putin that wants me to design something." Tony's expression was dangerous. "That deal was a onetime thing, and you blew it, Fury. You've burned that bridge." His voice had been rising slightly throughout his rant, and Thor finally moved forward and grabbed him to move him back.

"Calm yourself," he murmured to his enraged teammate.

Tony thought about ignoring him, but shrugged off the hand and started pacing to work off some of his anger. The reason he'd been so upset was because, after they realized the weapons didn't work, the agents had thrown them away, and they'd been grabbed by one of the more dangerous gangs in Rio. After realizing what had happened, Tony quickly detonated them, not wanting to risk anyone finding a way to override his commands on the missiles and rifles. He'd ended up killing ten of their ranks with the detonation. Sure, they were scum, but it still wasn't easy to know.

No matter that Tony was finished, Fury wasn't. "Look, you want to pull that shit in here, then I think you need to remember a few things. For one, you don't get to come in here yelling at me like this again, telling me what to do. If you remember, you are only employed by SHIELD as a consultant, not as a member of the Avengers. So, if you are really wanting to go that route, you know what I can do."

Tony whirled towards the man, ready to rip him a new one and tell him where he could shove his threats, but Thor, once again, stepped forward.

"Director, from one leader to another, I think that you are out of line."

The office went silent, thought the rest of the team had yet to say anything, just watching the play by play. Everyone in the room slowly turned to stare at Thor. They knew how much Thor respected Fury.

"What was that, Odison?" Fury asked slowly, bracing his hands on his desk, moving aside the contract that Stark had thrown down.

Thor took a breath and crossed his arms. "Stark has time and again proven himself to be a dedicated member of this team. I believe that I speak for the rest of them when I say that removing Stark from our team would be detrimental to the overall effectiveness of what we can do together."

"I understand that, but he is out of line to come in here and yell at me for doing my damn job!" Fury said icily.

Thor didn't flinch. "He might be arrogant, loud, selfish…"

"Oh, stop, I'm blushing," Tony grumbled from the side, still fuming.

"Shut it, Stark," Steve snapped next to him, and Tony rolled his eyes.

Thor ignored the interruptions. "However, he is a member of my team. Breaking trust is a grievous offense on Asgard, and I cannot imagine it being vastly different here. When you break the trust of one of us, you break it for the rest as well."

Again, silence reigned in the room, and some of the barely dared to move. Thor was clearly passionate in his defense of Tony, which was surprising, given the limited contact they had outside of battles.

Fury could see when he was beat. It was beyond foolish to try and take on the god of thunder on his own base, much less the rest of them. Stark might be a thorn in his side, but he was also one of the richest and well connected individuals on the planet. Not a great person to have as an enemy, especially when he was on payroll. "Very well, Thor. I won't pursue this further. Stark, I will change your status tonight," he said, defeated. "Just get out."

They filed out quietly and made their way off the base. As soon as they were back in the limo that Tony had used, he turned to Thor. "Hey, thanks," he said. Sincerity was not what he was known for, but he knew that things could have turned much uglier without the help.

Thor chuckled. "Avoid making him upset for the near future, if you will. I know not whether I can calm him in such a way again."

* * *

**Yeah, I know this one was as much Tony as Thor, but it was the best that I could do. :-)  
**


	7. Clint 2

**Blah! While I love the challenge this gives me, it's actually hard to limit myself simply to one shots. It's fun, though, and kind of feels like training for my brain. Assuming I still have one at this point, of course.**

**Since I had so much Tony in the last one, I had to skip him and go to someone else. Enjoy!**

* * *

Clint brought his arms together to block the kick to his side and gripped the foot. He stepped forward, wrapping his leg around his opponents, and gave it a quick jerk as he threw him to the ground.

"Mistake," he growled. "You got off balance, let me use your momentum against you. Remember, you can't best me on speed, so you have to use your personal strengths if you want to win. You have an advantage that you know what my own strength is, so you know what I'm going to lean towards, even if you don't know my weakness."

The SHIELD recruit that he was working with was panting, but listening closely, as were the other nine that sat silently around the mat. They were all familiar with Hawkeye, who came once a week to help train them in various subjects. This week was hand to hand combat.

"Alright, take a seat. Who's up next?" Clint asked, looking around. After a moment of silence, his smirk grew. "What, you're too scared? Come on; if you want to become agents, you have to learn eventually."

"Oh, I'm just terrified," a girl drawled from the side, sipping from a water bottle.

Clint raised a brow and grinned. "Then come on over and prove me wrong."

The girl took one last swig from her drink before capping it and standing. She walked slowly to the center where Clint was waiting for her. Like he did with all the others, he started by slowly grabbing their collar or wrist, quickly taking the role of the 'bad guy'. This was one of the first lessons in self defense _without_ a weapon that most of them had ever had, so he was starting out slowly.

Clint reached in and grabbed both sides of her gi and roughly jerked her forwards. Then he was spluttering as she spat the water into his face, and his grip loosened slightly. She was able to quickly free herself, hit him with a perfect 'flat fist' to his throat, though she did pull it slightly to keep from collapsing his trachea. When he involuntarily started falling forward, she grabbed his shoulders, using his momentum to push him further towards the ground, and then brought her foot down in an axe kick.

By then, though Clint was grinning. Looked like she actually had a bit of training before coming to SHIELD, which made him happy. Before her foot could fall onto the back of his neck, which would render him unconscious, he rolled out of the way, swiping his leg around and caught her behind the knees. She fell forwards, but rolled, quickly coming back up to her feet.

She tried to grab him by the arm, but he twisted quickly, grabbed her and threw her down in a body drop, keeping hold of her arm when she fell. As soon as she was down, he twisted the arm around, and pretended to knock her out with a hit to her temples. She quickly hit the ground as he twisted her arm a bit more, and he let go.

A loud chuckle from the doorway had everyone turning to see the infamous Black Widow leaning against the doorway, with the rest of the team next to her. They were all trying not to laugh. All of the recruits were slack-jawed. They might be familiar with Hawkeye because of his training, but many of them had never even been in the same room as the rest of the Avengers. Not to mention, Black Widow scared the hell out of them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Clint asked, helping the girl to her feet. "Nice job," he whispered.

"Other than watching you get your ass kicked by a newbie?" Natasha asked with a smirk. "Next time, don't tell them to capitalize on your weakness, or they'll all realize that your worst one is your cockiness."

Clint glared at her. "Really, what are you guys doing here?"

Bruce took pity on him, though it should have been obvious. "Avengers Assemble," he said simply, stepping forward and handing Barton his suit and bow.

It was only then that he realized that Thor, Tasha, Bruce and Steve were already suited up. Tony was going to call his suit to him on the way out. "Where are we supposed to go?" he asked as he changed. Normally he'd be a bit shyer about changing in front of the recruits, but he didn't have time to go to the changing rooms. Plus, he wasn't stripping all the way down, just to his boxers. Natasha had to suppress a growl when she heard a moan of desire from one of the recruits.

"No clue. Coulson will give us the orders when we're on the Quinjet," Steve told him, adjusting the straps on his shield.

By then, Clint had finished getting ready and grabbed the case his bow was in. He'd wait until they were nearly there before taking it out. He turned back to the recruits with a wry grin. "You're dismissed, though some of you might want to work on those kicks we went over. See you all next week. Don't be late."

The ten recruits watched as their instructor left with the other superheroes before talking eagerly. After that demonstration, for which the girl was receiving quite a bit of attention for, they were so much more ready to work for the following week.

* * *

The Avengers hurried to board the Quinjet and take off. Clint was the pilot, with Natasha as his copilot, and they both groaned as they saw the coordinates. They were on their way to Canada. What kind of threat, exactly, came from Canada? They took off, knowing that the trip would be short.

"So, how long have you been working with the recruits?" Natasha asked curiously. When she couldn't find the archer, she'd called Fury, who had told her where to find him. She hadn't realized the work he did with SHIELD other than the obvious.

Clint smiled at her. "It's been about a year," he told her.

"Well, if you ever need help for a demonstration, let me know."

Working hard to suppress the laughter, Clint considered how to answer. "Nat, you scare the hell out of them when you're just standing there. I'd hate to think about how they'd react to seeing you fight."

"Hey, it's not my fault if recruits are easily alarmed. They'll have to harden eventually," she retorted

"I'll take that under advisement." Though Clint was already thinking about lessons that he would need Nat's help on. Then he needed to get his mind out of the gutter. Step one: get to the mission. Step two: finish the mission and get home. Step three: spend a few hours with Nat back at the Tower working on his 'lesson plans'. He grinned as he prepared the jet for landing. What better motivation was there for finishing a mission quickly?

* * *

**This was actually a fun one to write. The idea hit me during my Judo lesson. Of course, then my sparing partner was able to throw me halfway across the room, but who cares? :-) **

**The 'water in the face' idea I got from a Nikita episode where she did something similar as the girl did in this one. **


	8. Natasha 2

**It's a lot harder to write when you can't move your neck, by the way. :-) Sorry for the wait, I was having some serious neck issues with at least one vertebra out of alignment, which made everything so much harder!**

**After some realization, I'm not sticking with the order of the first round of 'surprises'. I'm writing these as they come to me, and they've been quite elusive lately. We'll see what crazy things I can come up with ;-)**

* * *

Natasha growled as she looked at the evil beings in front of her. How was she going to pull this off, especially when she only had three hours? She found herself wishing for anything right then. Couldn't they get attacked by crazed, man eating aliens? Maybe she could come down with a dreadful case of bronchitis that would render her unable to breathe?

She sighed, regretting ever volunteering for this, when she really should have known better. At the time, though, all she had been able to think about was wiping the smug look off of Stark's face. If she'd been thinking about how ill suited she was for this, she would have kept her mouth shut.

Looking down at the paper in front of her, she cringed, not knowing what she was supposed to do right now. A voice from behind her made her jump.

"Having problems?" Bruce asked.

Natasha looked at him, allowing a pleading look onto her face. "I have no idea what I'm doing," she confessed in a whisper.

Bruce chuckled and walked towards her, eyes surveying the damage. The kitchen was a disaster; it seemed as though half of the refrigerator and most of the cupboard was spread out on the counter. He held out a hand for the paper she was holding.

Handing it over without a word, she watched, grateful, as he didn't laugh at her. He looked it over, and then glanced back up at her. "Spaghetti Bolognese isn't the simplest recipe. Where are you having trouble?"

She looked around her, at the mess of ingredients and different measuring cups and spoons that were filthy, and then looked back at her teammate. "The beginning?"

Bruce couldn't help the chuckle, then quickly looked through the recipe, and started putting things away. Why she thought that Thor's favorite Pop-Tarts would be needed, he wasn't even going to ask. He looked back at her to see that she was staring at him. "How about you put those two on the stove," he said, pointing to the correct pots, "and then start cleaning the measuring spoons."

Natasha obeyed, and watched him finish putting things away, and then took out a knife and cutting board. She was amazed as he wielded it deftly, cutting up the vegetables and herbs, moving smoothly around their rather large kitchen. It was only then that she realized he'd asked her something.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

Banner smiled at her. "I was going to ask why you were trying to make this?"

Natasha blushed slightly, knowing that it had been ridiculous. "Tony, somehow, realized that I've never cooked for us, and started running his mouth. So we made a bet."

A snort erupted from Bruce before he could help it. He knew Tony, probably better than the rest of the team combined, and knew that it could be dangerous to make bets with him. "What were the terms?" he asked as he stirred the pasta.

"If I can't make this edible, then I have to stay away from Pepper for a month," she told him, and saw him laugh. It was known that the two women would quite often gang up on Tony, especially when it came to some of the pranks that he and Clint would pull. Pepper would even sometimes use Natasha to help her wrangle Tony if need be for anything pertaining to the company.

"And if it is edible?" Bruce asked.

Natasha grinned. "That was the beauty of it. He figured there was no way I would win, so he gave me carte blanche. I can redeem it at any time in the next six months."

Bruce had to grab the counter to hold himself upright as he laughed long and hard at that. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he directed her to get the salad ingredients from the fridge while he pulled down the dishes they would need. They worked in silence, with Banner giving her some direction as far as the salad went, and had her set the table.

Finally, Natasha asked him something. "How did you learn how to cook so well?"

Bruce smiled at her as he started dishing everything up. "I've been to a lot of places, and on a very limited budget. When I find a place to stay, I usually have to figure out a way to eat, so I've picked up a couple of things." There were times that he missed that life, but he wouldn't give up the camaraderie that he had here for anything. When he was finished, he quickly washed his hands. "I should probably go and give myself an alibi, so that Tony doesn't realize I was here. That includes you Jarvis," he warned, looking up at the ceiling.

"I am not allowed to assist in any way on pranks that Mr. Stark partakes in," the cool English voice responded. "Ms. Potts made sure of that after the first incident with Mr. Barton."

The two of them laughed at that, and Bruce hurried off with a wink to Natasha. "Our secret, then." He made his way to his lab and continued with the work he'd been doing before.

* * *

Tony opened the door twenty minutes later, and stuck his head inside the room. "Hey big guy, dinner's ready," he said, laughter in his voice.

Fighting to keep the grin off his face, Bruce set down the pen he'd been using and shut off the machines. "I'll meet you up there." Tony went away, whistling a happy tune to himself, and Bruce followed up a moment later.

Pepper and the rest of the team were seated around the table, and started dishing up the salad, and then Natasha entered with the plates. Tony did a double take at the food, seeing that it actually looked good. When she set the plate in front of him, with a smug grin on her face, she patted him on the shoulder. "Bon Appetit."

Tony gave her a suspicious look, and sniffed the dish, looking incredulous. He tentatively took a bite, and his brows rose. He realized that the team was watching him with amused looks, and scowled. Everyone took the cue and started eating their meal.

As soon as they were finished, Natasha cleared her throat expectantly, looking around the table. Clint raised his hands. "Hey, this was almost as good as Bruce's meals. You've got my vote."

"That was wonderful, Natasha," Pepper told her with a smile and wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Thor, Steve, and Bruce quickly agreed that it was good. Bruce had to applaud Natasha's acting skills, as she didn't even twitch when he complimented her.

Tony grumbled under his breath, but raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, fine! This really was good. Now, what is it that you want?"

Natasha grinned at him. "We never said that I have to tell you right away. I'll let you know when I think of something."

"What?" Tony yelped. "That's so not fair. Tasha, come on! Guys, help me out here."

The others, though, quickly occupied themselves with clearing the table and taking things back into the kitchen. Natasha's eyes had a gleam in them that scared Tony, and he wondered whether or not he needed to update his will in the next day or two.

* * *

**For the record, I've never made Spaghetti Bolognese, and I can barely cook anything. My family makes fun of me all the time for it. However, I can make a mean frozen pizza :-)  
**


	9. Tony 2

**Okay, so my laptop finally called it quits on me. However, it did that before I could back up _anything_. That includes my work for work, my work for school, and, godforbid, ALL of my stories. I lost nearly two dozen stories, which is easily over a hundred pages. That is a huge setback. Thankfully, this story is the least affected, because I tend to write these one at a time, so I only lost this one. It was rather easy to recreate. My others? This is going to be hell.**

* * *

Tony, Clint, Natasha, and Steve were out playing soccer in a field near the mansion in Malibu. It was a nice reprieve from all of the missions they'd had lately, and something that they all needed. Thor was still asleep, and none of them wanted to be the one to wake him up. Bruce was finishing up the last of a paper he was hoping to submit to a journal, and had begged off so that he could finally finish it. Tony knew how much his green friend was enjoying the world not shunning him, especially the academic world, so he was willing to not give him a hard time. For the moment, anyway.

So they had paired off, and Tony was with Clint, running and trying to keep the ball from tangling between his feet. He was the worst at this, as Steve had the whole serum thing helping with his hand-eye coordination, and the other two had the training to help with the same. Tony was better than he'd been before the suit, but he wasn't at their level. Not to mention the fact that his brain wouldn't shut up. He tended to try to analyze everything, which was why so many people were convinced that he had ADD. Sure, he'd been diagnosed with it before he was sent off to MIT, but who cared? The doctor was a crack, everyone should have seen that.

Well, regardless, he was thinking about this pickup game that the was having with the others. He kicked the ball to Clint, who hurried to shoot, and managed to scored between Steve's legs. Tony sent an approving nod towards the archer, and received a grin in return. They continued playing for a while, neither side really gaining an advantage over the others.

Alright, that was a lie. Steve and Natasha occasionally held back, but they seemed to be doing that more for Clint's benefit, and seemed to enjoy putting Tony in his place, in this one thing, at least.

Tony had the ball and was kicking it as he ran slowly over to where Steve was in goal waiting for him. Clint was sprinting along the side of their 'field' as he waited for Tony to kick it to him. He had much better aim than Tony did without the HUD helping him, though it wasn't exactly _bad_ per say, just not as good as a trained assassin's.

Tony, however, didn't kick it to him. He wanted to prove something there, which was rather stupid, he could admit, thinking back on it. Natasha ran up to him, and went to hook her leg in and get the ball back. However, Tony had stepped just as it happened, and he sprawled forward with quite a bit of momentum.

Tony let out a growl in pain as he landed hard on his wrist. The loud SNAP stopped the other three, who hurried over. He rolled over onto his back and tried to breathe through the unholy pain radiating from his wrist.

"Holy hell," Steve breathed at the sight. He might not be a doctor, but he could tell that wrists weren't supposed to bend like that.

Tony tried to ignore the comments from his teammates as he struggled to his feet. His stomach rebelled at the movement, and he dry the grass. He moaned when he was finished. A cool hand pressed against his forehead, and he leaned in, taking a small amount of comfort from it.

"Don't worry, Tony," Natasha said, trying to soothe him slightly. "We're going to call an ambulance and get you to a hospital."

That one word shocked Tony out of his stupor, and he flinched, rolling away from the three of the. "Don't you fucking dare," he warned, though it wasn't as effective when he was in so much pain. He tried to pull out his StarkPhone with one hand, but it was proving difficult.

Clint, who had an idea of what was going on, grabbed the phone from Stark's pocket and went through the contacts. "Who do you want me to call?" he asked.

"Pepper," Tony muttered, gripping his wrist. She was going to kill him for this.

Clint nodded, as he had assumed as much, pressed the button, and put the phone to his ear.

_"Tony? I thought you were with the team for the day?" Pepper answered, sounding a bit curt. She was in the middle of a board meeting, which was nearly finished. They were all looking at her in exasperation, and she stood, walking out of the room. _

"Miss Potts? This is Clint, actually."

_Pepper double checked, and it was from Tony's phone, which made her wrinkle her brow slightly. "Clint? What's wrong? Is Tony alright?" she demanded, putting a hand on the door. She was ready to cancel the meeting if she had to._

"There is, actually. Tony broke his wrist pretty bad during our game, but he refuses to go to the hospital," Clint told her, looking over at Natasha. She seemed to be trying to convince the stupid genius to let her call an ambulance, but he wasn't budging. Quite remarkable, given how pale and pasty he was, and how persistent he knew Natasha could be.

_Pepper was already in action. She threw the doors open. "Alright, this meeting is finished. We can conclude everything tomorrow, but we're finished. I'll send an email with the time." She closed the door without waiting to see their outraged expressions. "Where are you? Can you get him back to the mansion?" she demanded. _

Clint was confused. He had assumed she would agree that he needed to get to the hospital. "Yeah, we're pretty close. But the hospital isn't that far, so wouldn't it be better..."

_"Not at all, Mr. Barton," she snapped, and Clint recoiled at the venom. "Bring him back to the mansion. Tell Tony I'll take care of everything here."_

Clint looked at the phone in surprise, as she had actually hung up on him. He shrugged and walked back to the others. Steve was standing off to the side, wondering what he could do. "Alright, Tony. Pepper said that she'll take care of everything once we get you back to the mansion."

Natasha looked at him in incredulity, but he didn't know anymore than she did. Steve stepped forward, glad to be of use. He picked Tony up, who immediately went rigid. "I think I can manage walking," he snarked to the captain, who just rolled his eyes. "I broke my wrist, not my legs."

"Yeah, and I don't think we want to explain to Miss Potts exactly why you broke your _other_ wrist," Clint told him.

The four of them were hurrying back to the mansion, which was not that far, thankfully. With the serum, Steve was barely even breathing hard by the time they walked in the front door to find Bruce looking confused as Pepper was snapping orders into her phone. "I'm not sure, wait, here he comes now," she said into the receiver, and tucked it between her cheek and shoulder as she looked at the captain. "Take him into the lab and put him on the bed," she ordered. She pulled out her Bluetooth and hooked it into her ear as she started talking on the phone again.

Steve obeyed because, well, Pepper could be scary when she wanted to be. He hurries down the stairs and sees the door open on it's own accord. He hesitated, confused for a moment.

'Thanks, Jarvis," Tony said from his arms, starting to sound even worse.

_"Not at all, sir."_

Steve shook himself slightly. He should be used to the AI by now. He saw the hospital looking bed surrounded by equipment he wasn't even going to guess what it was for, and set the genius down. Tony grunted slightly as it jarred his arm, but shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

Pepper hurried down with a small bag in her hands. She nodded when she saw Tony sitting down. "How exactly did you manage this again?"

Tony could see the Bluetooth in her ear, and nodded. "This time, I actually did just trip," he joked lightly. "You'd think I'd know how to fall by now."

The rest of the team had already started coming down the stairs, but the two ignored them. Pepper opened the bag and pulled out the syringe and the Morphine. "Same amount?" she asked.

Tony just nodded, and waited for the slight prick of the needle. As soon as he felt it, the world started swirling around him, but he stayed conscious. He looked over and saw the rest of the Avengers giving them strange looks that ranged from confusion to incredulity. "How long till he gets here?"

"About twenty minutes. I sent Happy as soon as I heard," Pepper assured him.

Tony nodded groggily, keeping Pepper's hand in his uninjured one. He wanted to make sure where she was the entire time. Speaking of which... "Pep," he said quietly, looking over at the team.

Bless her, she understood. "I don't think you guys need to watch a bone being set," she said pointedly. "Why don't you help yourselves to whatever's in the kitchen."

They got the hint and made their way upstairs in silence. As soon as they were all up there, Bruce was the first to speak. "Someone want to clue me in?" he asked.

Natasha told him what they knew so far. By the time she was finished, a man in a white coat hurried inside. "Where is he?" he demanded, hefting a rather large bag.

Steve just pointed at the stairs, and he nodded, the two hurrying down. Bruce watched them leave. "What do you think that's all about?"

Natasha was thinking hard, trying to remember anything from her time as Tony's PA that would explain all oft his, but she couldn't come up with anything. Steve, who had read everyone's file, was trying to do the same. They sat in silence for a long time until the entire group came back upstairs, Tony included, though he had a cast on his wrist, and had stress lines on his face to betray how much pain he was in.

"Sorry about that, guys," he said with his usual smirk. "Now, since I think a rematch is off the table, how about a movie marathon?"

Pepper ushered the doctor out of the room, knowing that things needed to be talked out. She sent Tony a warning glare before she left, and he just nodded at her.

"Stark, what exactly," Steve began, but Tony overrode him.

"No no. I think this is way too early in the relationship to be talking about feelings," Tony told him. "I just have a thing with hospitals. You know how it is. They give me the willies, is all."

Bruce stepped forward. "Yeah, I think we got that. We need to know why."

Tony shook his head and started making his way to their 'movie room' that they'd started a few weeks ago. "No worries, big guy. I'll go, but only if I'm dying, or if I get taken there while I'm unconscious. I swear I'm allergic to them..."

"Tony."

He turned to see the look that Natasha was giving him. He saw the look in her eyes, and for a moment there, he thought he was looking at Natalie again. He had actually had a few heart to hearts with his PA, which he was used to, given that she was his PA and had red hair. It was like another Pepper being there. Alright, he was getting off track again. When he saw that look, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he caved. If he did so a bit earlier, then there was a chance he could salvage this without crying, which she had managed to get him to do before.

"Alright, fine," he grumbled, and made his way to his liquor cabinet, making quick work of pouring a drink one handed. He could use the numbing right about now. "You guys heard about Afghanistan, right?"

Bruce, Clint, and Natasha nodded, but Steve looked confused. Clint raised a brow. "I thought you read all of our files?"

Steve still looked confused. "I did!"

"That would be my fault," Tony told them without the slightest bit of guilt. "Some things don't need to be spread around SHIELD. For a super secret agency, their firewalls have holes the size of the Grand Canyon in them. I'd ask how you know about it, Clint, but I can guess." He looked at Natasha, who just shrugged. "This isn't here for decoration," he said, tapping the circle of light on his chest before he downed the drink.

Steve continued to look confused, but figured he'd go with it. "I thought it was just there to power the suit." He regretted the words as soon as he saw his teammate's expression.

Tony scoffed at him. "I might like being Iron Man, but I'm not willing to go through major surgery to do so. There's easier ways. No, I had a bomb explode a few feet from me, and quite a bit of shrapnel entered my chest. After I was taken by the terrorists, they had a doctor there to take out as much as he could, but he couldn't get everything, hence the electromagnet to keep the rest from killing me. They refused to let him use anesthesia during the process, until I was thrashing so much I would have killed myself without it, and he convinced them to knock me out with basic chloroform." Tony said this all in nearly one breath, which was impressive, given how much he hated talking about this. "They took out my sternum, cracked a few ribs, removed some muscle and tissue, all with primitive tools, and most of which I was awake for. So, yeah, I fucking hate hospitals. That enough talk?" he asked, and once again didn't wait for a response. "Good. So, I was thinking a Matrix marathon. Clint, you get the popcorn, I don't want Steve blowing up another microwave."

The team watched him settle down on the couch with his casted wrist elevated under a few pillows. It was clear that he was done talking about it, and it was probably for the best, since they all needed a chance to process everything. Clint went ahead and made his way to the cabinet where they kept the popcorn. Looks like they still had a lot to learn about each other.

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**This one was a lot longer than I had intended, but I couldn't edit it any shorter. This one is definitely my favorite so far. I love writing Tony :-)  
**


	10. Thor 2

**Yikes, been a bit. Sorry about that. So, I had no idea who to post this under: Thor or Steve, but I chose Thor for some reason. Just seemed more about him. **

**Dedicated to the memory of my grandfather Earl, who passed last week. This one is a bit more melancholic than the others, and that's why.**

* * *

Steve was wandering around the mansion, as he liked to do on nights that he couldn't sleep. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for any of the team, but they had recently gotten back from another battle, and everyone was either in an exhaustion induced or medically induced sleep. He made his way to the kitchen, figuring that a cup of hot chocolate while he sketched would be just the thing to help calm him enough to catch some more sleep before they had to report back to SHIELD for the debrief.

When he entered the kitchen, though, he was surprised to see that he wasn't the only one up. Thor was sitting at the counter with a glass of mead. Tony had realized how much Thor liked the drink and had ordered quite a bit for the man, which Steve thought was rather considerate.

"Hey," he said quietly and awkwardly.

Thor jerked slightly, as though he hadn't heard him coming. Which was surprising in and of itself, given that Thor had even better hearing that Steve did. "Captain, you are up late this night."

Steve shrugged as he pulled down a mug and started making his own drink. "I couldn't sleep. Figured I'd get some sketching done."

There was silence for a few moments while Thor seemed to debate with himself. "Yes. I, too, am having difficulties with sleep."

Steve sat down next to him, concerned. Sure, it was his job to care about his team, but he and Thor shared a rather unique bond that the others didn't. They were both strangers in this world that they found themselves in. "What's going on?" he asked, setting down his sketchbook and charcoal to listen.

The god took a fortifying drink. "It is nothing of consequence. I am certain you have more important things to do."

"None that I can think of right now," Steve countered quickly and firmly.

Thor cracked a smile at that. "When I returned to Midgard, it was because my father had sent me here. He stated that I was needed more here than in Asgard, and that if I was ever needed there, he would send for me."

Steve nodded. "Are you worried something is wrong back home?" he asked.

Shaking his head, the god set the drink back on the counter after he'd drained it. "Nothing as noble as that, I am afraid. I just… miss my family, I suppose."

The supersoldier could understand that quite well, and felt his heart go out to his teammate. How often he wished he had a chance to return to his own time. Before he could say anything, Thor was continuing.

"Please do not misunderstand, I care about this team, and am glad to be here helping. We are doing good works, works that others are unable to do, but…"

"It's still hard," Steve finished. "You want to know that everyone is alright, and to spend time with them, but you can't go home to find out."

Thor nodded stiffly as he looked at the wall. "Exactly so."

Steve fiddled slightly with his pencils, wishing that there was something he could do to help. He understood exactly where Thor was coming from, and it was something that he wouldn't wish on anyone. As he fiddled, an idea struck him. He flipped through his sketchbook to an empty page. He, after all, had pictures of the important people in his life, and those that he didn't, he'd drawn. "Would it help to have a drawing or two, of your family?"

Thor looked at him in confusion. "What is it that you mean?"

To elaborate, Steve handed him the sketchbook and let him flip through the pages. "When I miss someone from the past, I draw them. It just helps to have something to remember them by. If you wanted to describe your family to me, I could draw them for you, and you could keep them."

That got a smile from the god, who nodded in gratitude. "That would be a wonderful thing, to be able to see them on nights such as this."

Steve set out the pencils that he would use and went back to a blank page. "Alright, where do you want to start?" he asked.

For the next few hours, Thor described his family and friends to Steve, who sketched image after image. By the time the rest of the team had woken up, there was a stack of images next to Thor, and the two were laughing as the god described some of the stunts he'd pulled in his youth.

They both greeted Bruce and Clint, who were the first to enter the kitchen, and raise brows and the strange sight. Steve just waved them off as he put the finishing touches on the sketch before he ripped it out and added it to the pile.

"Thank you, Captain. You have helped my soul heal much. You have my eternal gratitude," he said, deeply moved. He nodded a farewell to the other two in the kitchen before heading back out to put the drawings in his room, where they wouldn't be damaged by the coffee that was a staple in the team's diet.

Steve watched him leave with a smile. Through the entire night, the two of them had shared stories of their youth, had shed tears, and had laughed until they had cried. It was a wonderful night, and Steve was glad he'd been able to help one of his team in a way that was unique to him.

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**This one was a bit shorter, but I didn't want to fluff it. **


	11. Bruce 2

**Arg! Have I mentioned how hard it is to keep coming up with ideas for this?! Oh well, its still fun.**

* * *

Bruce woke to a mouthful of dry leaves. He quickly spat them out, using his hands to brush off the ones that had stuck to his face, and sighed. It wasn't his worst wake up, not even close, but he still hated the way the leaves crumbled in his wet mouth and stuck to his sweat soaked skin.

He smiled, though, when he saw that he was wearing his clothes that Tony had finally finished developing. The team had always been great about having extra clothes lying around for him, but Tony seemed to know how embarrassed he was until he found clothes, and made him some prototype material. This was the first transformation that he had while wearing them, and was pleased to see that they were still on him. He'd have to thank the engineer when he got back to the Tower.

Speaking of which, he looked around, and realized that he had no idea where he was. They had gotten the call to Assemble. There had been a group who had tried to make a statement by burning down the Chippewa National Forest. Seriously? Where did people get some of these ideas?

He still had a hard time remembering everything that happened while the other guy was in control, so he didn't know if he was still in the National Forest, or if he was even still in Minnesota. He carefully climbed to his feet and looked at his surroundings. It appeared to be the right place, so he took a few moments to find his bearings, and made his way east, figuring it was the quickest way to civilization. As he started walking, he heard mild cursing far to his right.

He could feel the other guy grumble slightly, but he was more wary than afraid. He quietly moved towards the sound, taking great care to keep himself in the shadows, having more than enough experience in making himself invisible.

He needn't have worried, though. He spotted Clint leaning against a tree, his bow in two pieces in his lap, and gripping his shoulder tightly, eyes and jaw clenched tightly in pain. Bruce stepped forward slowly, making sure that he made some noise as he walked, to alert the man to his presence.

"Who's there?" the archer demanded, grabbing a gun and leveling it at the 'threat'.

Bruce appeared, hands raised in the typical 'surrender' gesture. "It's just me," he said softly. He was glad to see Clint, in that he at least knew that he wasn't all the way in another state, which had happened before, more than once. "The battle over?" he asked as he moved forward.

Clint nodded. "My comm's out. Not sure where the rest of the team is at."

Bruce stepped forward, nodding. "Let me take a look at you," he said, kneeling down.

"It's fine," Clint protested, but Bruce knew better. Clint just hated anyone seeing him injured, though he didn't know why. It was clearly just a token protest, given that he didn't fight when Bruce gripped his elbow lightly to take a closer look. "It's just dislocated."

Bruce nodded in agreement. "I'll reset it, if you want."

Clint grabbed a thick twig that was next to him, and bit down tightly before he nodded. It was official, dislocated joints were third on his list of least favorite injuries on ops (and how sad was it that he had a list? Surely it said something about his line of work.) The first was broken ribs, and the second was burns. Gunshot wounds were actually fourth, because it was easier to get time off to deal with them.

The scientist didn't hesitate, but quickly and efficiently put the shoulder back into place, and he had to hand it to the archer, who barely grunted at the process. Clint spat out the twig, and muttered a thank you to the man. The next thing he did was to pull out his phone and his comm, fiddling with them for a moment.

Bruce never took either with him on missions, since the other guy would break them, or would freak out with the team speaking in his ears the whole time. It was something that he and Tony were going to start working on, but they hadn't had the chance lately.

"Let me take a look at that," Bruce offered, and Clint handed over the phone while he fiddled with the comm.

The phone appeared to be broken, but Bruce was the second smartest person on the team, and wasn't going to be deterred by that fact. The two of them were working silently for a while as they each worked on a way they could get in touch with the rest of the team. The forest wasn't small, and it could be a while before they were found. Also, with Clint being injured (Bruce would wager that there was also a sprained ankle) and Bruce's post-transformation exhaustion, they weren't going to be able to go anywhere quickly.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bruce had the phone fixed enough to place a call, and he wasted no time in calling JARVIS, and he quickly asked the AI to patch him through to the Avengers while starting a trace.

There was a few moments of static until the two stranded Avengers heard the wonderfully, and annoyingly, familiar voice.

"Did you two hitch hike home already?" Tony asked. "I thought we agreed we were going out for barbeque after this one?"

"Stark," Clint said warningly.

"Relax, Robin Hood. J is tracing your location…and there it is. Cap, I'll head that way, could you let Hill know where to pick us up?"

Steve gave an affirmative, and returned to rounding up the last of the suspects. Tony double checked where he was headed. "Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes, give or take how accurate this is."

"Take your time," Bruce said sardonically. "I'm really enjoying this beautiful wilderness. Not sure what animals we'll find out here. Maybe I can even get another Scout Badge while I'm out here."

Tony chuckled. "Hold your horses, Jekyll. I'll be there soon." He ended the connection, but had Jarvis keep a lock on it for him if they needed him before he got there.

Clint was chuckling at the exchange. "Were you ever a Boy Scout?" he asked, curious.

"Longer than Tony was, though that's not saying much," Bruce answered. "Where do you think I learned to reset a shoulder?"

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**Bruce is a fun character to write, and he and Clint never had any words spoke between them in the movie. Hopefully in the next Avengers movie they will, though. **


End file.
